10 Biggest Surprises from the Opening Weekend of the 2014-15 CBB Season

The first weekend of the 2014-15 college basketball season featured 255 games. With that much action, there was no way everything was going to stick to the script.

Teams were going to lose games they had no business losing. Surprising players were going to rise up, and expected stars were going to struggle. Social media would find a couple of moments to latch onto, and there would even be room for a tender family moment. (And no, we're not talking about Rick Pitino once again spanking his son on national television.)

Check out 10 of the first weekend's most surprising moments here, and engage in intelligent, civilized discourse regarding your favorites in the comment section.

10. Season's First Near Triple-Double Comes From...Eastern Washington?

The very first game of the college basketball season promised to be a tight one between SWAC contender Texas Southern and Big Sky favorite Eastern Washington. The two potential NCAA tournament clubs staged a tight duel in the first half, with Eastern clinging to a 32-30 lead at the break.

From there, the Eagles got their offense moving and pulled away handily en route to an 86-62 win. But none of that is the reason this game is highlighted here.

Versatile EWU point guard Drew Brandon, all 6'4" of him, led the Big Sky in assists and ranked seventh in rebounding last year, averaging 10.4 points, 6.4 boards and 5.1 dimes on the season. He fell one rebound short of a triple-double last season against Montana State, and he came tantalizingly close again in this year's opener.

Brandon finished the game with 10 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists against the Eagles, playing a superb game against a pair of TSU's new major-conference transfers, Deverell Biggs (ex-Nebraska) and Nevin Johnson (formerly of Creighton).

No other EWU player in the school's history has come as close as Brandon to a triple-double, and that includes longtime NBA guard Rodney Stuckey. It should probably come as no surprise at all if Brandon finishes the job sometime this year.

9. Georgetown Gets Offense from Unexpected Source

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In case you thought your team could beat Georgetown just by shutting down Big East Player of the Year favorite D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, think again.

Hoya coach John Thompson III doesn't often start freshmen, but forward L.J. Peak justified the coach's faith by posting a stellar debut against St. Francis (NY). Peak sank all nine of his shots on his way to a game-high 23 points, pacing the Hoyas to an 83-62 win in their opener.

“I’d like to see him get more rebounds, but obviously he played well,” Thompson told The Washington Post's Gene Wang about Peak, who finished with only two boards. “I thought his teammates did a good job of sharing the game and getting him the ball in positions where he could do what he does, but he’s a scorer. He’s a natural scorer. It comes easy to him.”

While Peak was going off, Smith-Rivera was struggling through a 2-for-9 shooting night, but he did post nine rebounds and six assists.

In all, the Hoyas had eight players score six or more points, including Peak's classmates Isaac Copeland and Paul White. Thompson appears to have many more scoring options than he did last season, which contributes to the optimism surrounding the program. Georgetown is a prime contender in the Big East and should be expected to reach the NCAA tournament, especially if the freshmen keep producing.

8. Portland State Stifles USC

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USC isn't expected to be a contender in the Pac-12 this season. With the way it played on Saturday night, however, the Trojans might even struggle if they were relegated into the Big Sky Conference.

While USC owned Portland State 43-25 on the glass and outshot the Vikings 53 percent to 39 percent, the Trojans ended up literally giving the game away. USC's 23 turnovers were converted into 31 points by the opportunistic Vikings en route to a 76-68 win.

"It wasn't sloppy play, it was poor decision making," USC coach Andy Enfield told the Associated Press (via the Coos Bay World). "The 23 turnovers is why we lost the game."

Poor decision making will likely be a constant thorn in Enfield's side this season, as his roster features 11 underclassmen and zero seniors. I don't think he's in #DunkCity any more, Toto.

7. Multiple SEC Teams Struggle on Opening Night

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The matchups didn't seem like must-watch affairs in the midst of a crowded 157-game slate on Friday night, but for critics of SEC basketball, they became major talking points.

Missouri hosted in-state sister school Missouri-Kansas City. UMKC walked out with a 69-61 win.

Ole Miss entertained Charleston Southern in a game that wasn't very entertaining at all, unless you're into bad shooting and worse turnovers. The Rebels trailed by 12 at the half. The two teams combined shot 31.5 percent from the floor and 21.5 percent from long range. Ugliest of all, they combined for 49 fouls and 34 turnovers in a game that CSU won on a tip dunk with 0.1 seconds left.

Auburn trailed by 12 points with 11 minutes to go against Milwaukee, a team that snatched a counterfeit NCAA tournament bid last season by winning the Horizon League's tournament and is ineligible to go back this year. A dominant double-double by the debuting Cinmeon Bowers—he pulled 17 of the Tigers' 35 rebounds—helped carry Auburn to a 10-point win in Bruce Pearl's debut.

Mississippi State only led Western Carolina by one at halftime before pulling away.

At least Georgia can hold its head up at losing to a power-conference foe, as archrival Georgia Tech protected its home court behind 20 points and nine rebounds from debuting Maryland transfer Charles Mitchell. It was a competitive game, which is more than could be said for Tennessee's unsurprising loss to VCU.

SEC hoops has some work to do to rehabilitate its reputation, but we didn't think the damage was quite this extensive.

6. Stanley Johnson Struggles in Arizona Debut

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Maybe it was the shoes?

Touted Arizona freshman Stanley Johnson announced his college choice last November by holding up a pair of custom UA Air Jordan 3s. With Arizona being a Nike school, however, those were never going to see any on-court use.

Rocking a pair of "Chaos" Nike Kobe 6 sneakers on Friday night, Johnson scuffled through a 2-of-8 shooting night in his collegiate debut against Mount St. Mary's. He produced eight points and six rebounds in 24 minutes.

As a team, the second-ranked Wildcats came out tight to begin the season, leading the Mountaineers by only three with 3:20 to go in the first half. From there, however, Arizona launched a 12-0 run to close the half and The Mount never pulled closer than seven the rest of the way.

Johnson did bounce back with a team-high 17 points on Sunday against Cal State Northridge.

5. Montrezl Harrell Is Scoring from Everywhere

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When I attended Louisville basketball's media day and scrimmage, one of the intriguing on-court developments was Montrezl Harrell flexing some shooting range from the three-point arc. Questions swirled as to whether this was a new wrinkle in the Cards offense or merely something coach Rick Pitino was allowing Harrell to play around with in games that didn't count.

Friday night in Puerto Rico, the All-American answered that question emphatically.

Harrell scored the first basket of Louisville vs. Minnesota on a triple and sank two more as part of his 30-point explosion as the eighth-ranked Cardinals downed the Gophers 81-68. On a team with more noted shooters like Chris Jones, Terry Rozier and Wayne Blackshear, Harrell somehow finished with half the team's output from the arc, making three of the team's six long shots.

By comparison, Harrell sank only two threes combined in his first two seasons.

Already a beast on the block, Harrell is showing definite signs of development already in his junior season. Small offensive skills like cuts and interior passes are much smoother, and he's playing defense with something other than brute force.

Oh, and the career 47 percent foul shooter made 9 of 10 in Puerto Rico.

If all of these are recurring elements and not merely a function of season-opening adrenaline, Harrell becomes a major favorite for every national player of the year award in existence.

4. Marshall Plumlee Is Also Scoriing from Everywhere

If you're a 6'11" junior who's never even attempted a three-pointer in your career, making one is guaranteed to blow the roof off your arena, even in an otherwise forgettable laugher of a game.

With 32 seconds left in No. 4 Duke's 113-44 throttling of Presbyterian, Blue Devil big man Marshall Plumlee was left all alone at the arc by a Blue Hose defense that simply wanted to go home. Observers could all but see Plumlee visually shrug and say "Why not?" (actually, ESPN announcer Roxy Bernstein said exactly that) as he launched a three-pointer that smoothly found the bottom of the net.

The Duke fans and bench both erupted, with Justise Winslow getting just a bit too into his role as get-back coach. Of course, the savvy Duke basketball staff knew just what to do with such an epic moment, grafting it to R. Kelly's stirring anthem "I Believe I Can Fly" for perhaps the single greatest viral moment of this opening college basketball weekend.

(Apologies to those who would rather vote for Kansas State's Brandon Bolden blocking Southern Utah's John Marshall into oblivion.)

3. Airman Surprises Family at Kentucky/Buffalo Game

This one isn't exactly an on-court story, but these things are always fun.

Air Force Master Sgt. James Allegrezza appeared on a scoreboard video at Rupp Arena during the second half of No. 1 Kentucky's game against Buffalo. When the video ended, however, the man himself showed up on the court, surprising his wife and two kids.

The Lexington Herald-Leader has more photos here.

2. Buffalo Surprises Kentucky at Kentucky/Buffalo Game

As one of the nation's most feared rim protectors, Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein isn't used to people putting him on a poster, especially players from the Mid-American Conference.

That, however, is exactly what Buffalo forward Justin Moss did to the Big Blue big man during Sunday's matinee battle at Rupp Arena. Moss worked a lovely pick-and-roll and attacked the basket with some seriously cruel intentions, ignoring a five-inch height deficit to jam the ball home over a rotating Cauley-Stein.

The vicious dunk symbolized the first half of that game, with the allegedly overmatched Bulls taking the game to the lethargic, overconfident Wildcats. Buffalo, coached by Duke legend Bobby Hurley, actually led by five at halftime, but that lead was erased within the first 40 seconds of the second stanza as freshman Trey Lyles asserted himself with a three, a steal and a dunk.

“This had the feel of an NCAA Tournament game,” Hurley told The Buffalo News. “They’re at the top of the food chain. For us to be able to be competitive, and to feel like we were outplaying them for a large portion of the game, gives our guys confidence."

Judging from Moss' dunk, that's not something he and his teammates are lacking.

1. Michigan State Barely Escapes

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We knew No. 18 Michigan State didn't have its usual talent level this season. However, only the most cynical Spartan critic would have expected an opening upset loss to Navy, whether the game was at Annapolis or not.

If not for senior point guard Travis Trice going bananas from the three-point arc, that's exactly what would have occurred. Trice made 5 of 6 from deep as part of his game- and career-high 25 points, making him one of only two Spartans to score in double figures during a tense 64-59 victory.

Trice pocketed 17 of the 25 in the second half, frequently making shots that kept the Midshipmen at arm's length. Fellow Spartan generals Branden Dawson and Denzel Valentine struggled, with Dawson scoring only two of his 12 after halftime and Valentine producing only five points all night on 2-of-10 shooting.

The Spartans were guests of the United States Naval Academy for two days, and coach Tom Izzo remarked to the Associated Press (via ESPN) after the game, "I was impressed with everything but Michigan State, to be honest with you."

State has very little time to dissect what went wrong, as it steps in against Duke at the Champions Classic in Indianapolis Tuesday night. Remember, Duke's margin of victory was greater than Michigan State's total score in their respective openers. If Sparty isn't at full throttle then, that game will get ugly in a hurry.

All team rankings via the Associated Press.

For more from Scott on college basketball, check out The Back Iron. New Week 1 Top 25 up, plus the Opening Weekend Extravaganza spotlights All-Americans and a fully fleshed-out bracket leading to TBI's Final Four picks. You won't get that from anyone else on the Internet.

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